A Floyd County Police officer has been demoted and placed on probation following a training incident in May where he was under the influence of alcohol.

Josh Harkins, formerly a Sergeant on the force, is alleged to have conducted a DUI training exercise after hours on Friday, May 16 at his home with a new officer. However, Harkins had reportedly been drinking prior to the training exercise and was driving his vehicle on his street.

During the training, a traffic stop was initiated on Harkins as part of the training exercise and proper procedure was followed.

"The letter that the chief wrote explains the reasons that he decided to forego a termination was due to the fact that Harkin's intentions were to better train and properly prepare a new officer for patrol," said Captain John Blalock, spokesman for the department. "Obviously his way of going about doing that is unsatisfactory and unacceptable."

Harkins was demoted to Patrol Officer First Class and was issued a Performance Plan that must be strictly followed or he would be terminated.

Harkins has been disciplined for such things in the past as using excessive force and dodging a subpoena during his eight years with the Floyd County Police Department.